(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for improving the quality of products produced in the cigarette manufacturing process. By having a computer monitor operating parameters of a machine while it is producing a particular product; automatically perform or request that the machine operator perform various quality tests on samples of the product being produced; compare the machine parameters and the test results to expected values; and provide rapid feedback to the machine operator using interactive video displays which easily highlight problems, allow the operator to analyze the problems, and can provide recommended solutions to the problems, the real time quality control of products being produced for use in cigarette manufacturing can be greatly improved.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
There is a great need in industry to provide feedback as rapidly as possible to machine operators in order to minimize product which fails to meet quality standards. This is particularly true in the cigarette manufacturing industry, where tremendous quantities of product can be produced in a very short time period. For example, cigarette filter rod machines generally produce filter rods at a rate in excess of 3500 rods per minute. In the past, machine operators performed manual measurements of the quality of the product they were producing and manually recorded the results on a control chart. Quality control personnel would gather the test results and perform statistical calculations to determine the quality of the product being produced. This process was very time consuming, and, if there were quality problems, large quantities of product might have to be discarded. Because of this time delay, the product might have already been used further in the production cycle, so the waste could be even more costly. Therefore, it was desirable to develop a method whereby rapid feedback is given to the machine operators concerning the quality of the product they are producing so that they can make adjustments and minimize product waste. Further, it was desirable to make this method operator friendly to minimize training and encourage use in the work place. Also, it was desirable to provide the operators with suggested solutions for the problems they encountered. The present invention satisfies these desires.
Others in the cigarette manufacturing process have taught procedures which relate to the present invention. U.S. Pat. No. 4,522,214, to Osmalov, teaches a method and apparatus for controlling a cigarette maker to produce a cigarette rod with predetermined moisture content, whereby a signal processor is used to monitor inputs from moisture, density, and firmness sensors and make adjustments in the cigarette making process based on those sensor inputs.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,044,379, to Cahill et al, teaches method to monitor quality parameters, weighting each parameter according to its importance, summing the weighted quality parameter test results, and adjusting the machine to keep the sum of the weighted quality parameter test results as close to the desired sum as possible.